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How To Renew An SSL Certificate

If your SSL certificate expires, it can open your website up to harmful cyber-attacks that can result in a manual action (penalty) from Google leading to a loss in organic search rankings, traffic, and potential loss in revenue and customer trust. This is why it is essential to know how to renew an SSL certificate.

Posted in Website Security and WordPress Security
March 17, 20212 min read

Thankfully, renewing an SSL certificate is easy. In this post, we will explain how to renew an SSL certificate in a few steps.

  1. Generate a new Certificate Signing Request (CSR)

The first step in renewing an SSL certificate is generating a CSR, which validates your server’s identity. You’ll be asked to provide contact information to validate the domain ownership, and then you’ll receive a CSR code from your web host. Keep this on hand because you’ll need it for the next step.

  1. Activate the renewal process

Access the dashboard provided by your host to view your products, including domains and SSL certificates. Clicking this button will start the renewal process and you’ll be prompted to enter information, including the CSR code. Once you confirm your information is correct, you’ll be brought to the next step.

  1. Validate your SSL certificate

Next, you’ll have to verify ownership of your domain again. You can do this by email, HTTP validation, or DNS validation. The easiest way to validate ownership is by entering the email associated with the domain, if there is one. After ownership has been confirmed, you’ll receive a validation email with a link that includes your new SSL certificate files.

  1. Install your new SSL certificate

Some hosts will ask you to contact them in order to install your new SSL certificate. The ability to carry out this process manually varies based on the software you use. Each host is different, so see what your host suggests regarding how to renew SSL certificates.

If you’re looking for more information about how to renew your SSL certificate, or if you’re new to SSL certificates in general, check out our blog post about how to get an SSL certificate.